Page 99 of Always Mine
“Marco, I need to do this. So you’re either with me, or I do this without you.”
“I don’t fucking like this one bit, but there’s no way you’re doing this without me. GG works with both of us or not at all.”
She nods, biting her lip. “Where does tonight leave us? I just feel like a bomb went off in our idyllic bubble and the noise from the blast is still echoing in my ears.” Another tear slides down her face. “But if I’m being honest, I feel like that echo has been there the whole time, except it was my subconscious warning me the next blast was imminent. I don’t want our relationship to be like this. To feel like I am one step away from it blowing up completely.”
We’re both so weary, but if we have any chance of building our relationship on a solid foundation, laying the truth out about everything is just the first step. Step two is going to tear her apart, but I know it must be done so we can choose to start the next phase of who we are together on a clean slate.
I entwine our fingers and bring her hand to my lips, kissing the top of it gently. She looks down at our joined hands in her lap. Silence surrounds us, giving me the perfect runway for the words I need to say. I lift her chin so I’m looking right into her eyes.
“When I told Seb the truth about everything tonight, he said to me that I was a better man than him. It hit me like a freight train. I haven’t been a better man, Sophia. In my blind quest to make you mine, I’ve done the exact same thing as your dad—used my power to manipulate outcomes for my benefit.” My breath becomes more ragged as I watch Sophia try to control her sobs. “I don’t just want you to choose me because I am the better man; I want you to choose me—us—because you know without a shadow of a fucking doubt that I am the best man. Only the best—that’s what you fucking deserve.”
I pull her into my lap, and she comes without hesitation. I cradle her against my body as she cries softly, letting the tears fall for all the hurt, confusion, and questions that remain.
I inhale, drawing in her decadently sweet scent, praying it will permeate so far under my skin I can still feel her with me. As her crying peters out, I lift her face up to mine once more.
“I want you to listen to me and not say a word.” She nods. “I loved you when I didn’t even understand what love was. I love you even more now knowing you’re the last person I see before I close my eyes at night and the first person I see when I open them in the morning. I will never stop fucking loving you, even if you decide my love is not enough for you.” I close my eyes, and a tear escapes unbidden. I don’t try to hide it. “Now that there’s no more secrets, I want to show you the man I am, flaws and all. I want to give you the space to decide if this version of me lives up to the one you’ve always put on a pedestal. So I’m going to go and stay with Seb, at least until after the Law Gala, and I want you to stay here.”
“But Marco, I can’t kic—”
“Please. I need you to stay here. At least until you find a place of your own if that’s what you decide. Simply knowing you’re here will give me peace.”
She nods once. “Will you hold me, just for tonight?”
I don’t bother changing. I just lie her down on the bed and wrap myself around her tightly, interlocking my fingers and legs with hers.
Exhausted, she dozes off almost immediately, and I gaze at her, cataloging every magnificent detail. Committing them to memory—again—like an addict who needs a fix before his last high has even worn off. Her long, thick, black lashes flutter on her perfect, high cheekbones. Her pretty little button nose. Her full, kissable, rosebud-pink lips, and the tiny beauty spot just above her lip she likes to darken for full sex-siren effect.
I pray like hell this isn’t the last time I’ll ever get to watch her sleep or feel her pressed against me, but just in case it is, I watch her sleep and revel in the feel of her molded to me—one final time.
Sebastian:
Raf, I heard you had the big bad wolf huffing and puffing on your doorstep at the crack of dawn this morning.
Raf:
Why is it whenever one of you idiots gets into some sort of trouble, I’m left to deal with Dad’s wrath? Why the fuck didn’t he go to Marco’s house if he couldn’t get a hold of you?
Luca:
Well, Sebastian, if you weren’t MIA all night, you would know that you have another house guest. So there’s that…
Sebastian:
Please explain. You better not have brought some random fuck buddy to my house. You know it’s my sanctuary.
Luca:
Fuckable. But more our sister’s type *sends picture*
Sebastian:
Then why is he at my house?
Marco:
Being a better man.
Sebastian:
